Alvaro Morata matched a Juventus record and Simone Zaza sealed a 2-0 Champions League victory over Sevilla.
Manchester City fought back (and saved a penalty) to win 2-1 away to Borussia Monchengladbach. This means Juve are top of the group on six points, Sevilla and City have three each, while the German side are on zero.
Alvaro Morata matched a Juventus record and Simone Zaza sealed a 2-0 Champions League victory over Sevilla.
Manchester City fought back (and saved a penalty) to win 2-1 away to Borussia Monchengladbach. This means Juve are top of the group on six points, Sevilla and City have three each, while the German side are on zero.
Claudio Marchisio, Mario Mandzukic, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Stefano Sturaro, Kwadwo Asamoah and ‘suspended’ Martin Caceres were all unavailable, but Sami Khedira made his first competitive start after picking up an injury over the summer. Like Juve, Sevilla were struggling domestically and doing well in Europe, but missed Fernando Llorente, Adil Rami, Ever Banega, Daniel Carriço, Escudero, Kakuta and Vitolo.
Hernanes blasted an early effort wide and Paulo Dybala’s curler was just past the far top corner from a Khedira lay-off. Juan Cuadrado was causing Sevilla all sorts of problems down the right, but was flagged offside when his chip was over from six yards.
Khedira chested down the ball and got to the by-line, but the pull-back was just behind Dybala and the ex-Palermo man stumbled.
Andrea Barzagli was surprisingly playing at times as a right-back, but it worked because he whipped in a cross for Morata to rise above two defenders and place a precise header into the far bottom corner. It was the Spaniard’s fifth consecutive Champions League goal, equalling the club record set by Alessandro Del Piero.
After the restart, a long Juve passing move was finished by Dybala’s angled drive, beaten away at the near post by Sergio Rico’s legs.
The goalkeeper also parried a Dybala free kick that pierced the defensive wall, then the ex-Palermo striker was closed down at the last second when meeting a Patrice Evra cross.
Ciro Immobile was jeered loudly by the crowd due to his past at rivals Torino. Juan Cuadrado’s snapshot stung Rico’s gloves, then the Colombian was denied by a crucial Benoit Tremoulinas block on Dybala’s chested assist.
Juventus locked down the victory late on with two of their new players combining. Dybala fought between two Sevilla defenders to win back possession and poked the pass through to send Simone Zaza running. The ex-Sassuolo striker sprinted with fresh legs from midfield and kept his cool to slide the finish past Rico.
Juventus 2-0 Sevilla
Scorers: Morata 41 (J), Zaza 87 (J)
Juventus: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Khedira (Alex Sandro 76), Hernanes, Pogba; Cuadrado, Morata (Zaza 80), Dybala (Rugani 88)
Sevilla: Sergio Rico; Coke, Andreolli, Kolodziejczak, Trémoulinas; N'Zonzi (Iborra 66), Krychowiak; Reyes (Munoz 79), Krohn-Dehli, Konoplyanka; Gameiro (Immobile 66)
Ref: Eriksson (SWE)